Fountain pen



F. M. ASHLEY Aug. 3, 193 7.

FOUNTAIN PEN Filed Dec. 23, 1956 All @WQ N INVENTOR Patented Aug. 3, 1937 UNlfTEDsTATE-s essere l FOUNTAIN PEN! `Frank M. Ashley, Great Kills, N. Y., assignorto Lewis Gompers, Trustee, New York, N. Y.

Application December 23, 1936, Serial No. 117,274`

i` Claims. (Cl. 1Z0-A7.)`

" My invention relates tol-fountain pens.

V The object of my invention is to`provide a selfl Ilvlng fountain pen `embodying `a piston thru which ink may flowfrom one chamber to anily other formed in the pen byfthe piston, and means p l for closing lthe passage between said chambers;

'l Afurther object is toprovide a pen capable of holdihg-a large supply ofink under complete control of the user. il

A `further object is to provide a `pen which is 15 easyft'll, easy tio-clean, and in vwhich the ink maybefviewedasthe pen is lled, and the total quantity viewed at any time thereafter without removing anyparts-ther'eof l g further objectfisA toprovide a pen4 in which 20 thejchfambersimay bei filled by a single outward 'and'` inward stroke of the pistonrod, or by a plu* ia-lityof` suchstrokes, dependingupon thelocation' oi" the piston` and its Yco--operative parts within thebarrel at the'time the pen is made. V25 'Referringto the lilrawii'lg which forms a part 1of'this speciicationr*y I f l Fig. 1 vis a longitudinalv sectionalvie'wof a pen mbody'ingmy invention, shown with the valve in litsnormalclosed; position. i3() Fig 2*jis va similarf'view in' lwhich thevalveis sho ingit's operi positionand ready for the outtrotte of-'thefiston ywhen the pen is about tbllilllith'ikj" i Fig. 434 is.. attr` @"33 3-43 or Figure Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

I indicates the barrel, which may be made of Actional view taken on line x .t

transparent or translucent material to permit a 40 view of the entire quantity of ink therein, or it may be made of opaque material if desired.

A pen section I i is secured to the barrel in the usual manner to effect an ink-tight joint at I2.

I3 indicates a feed-plug held in the pen sec- 45 tion in the usual manner, and it is provided with the usual feed duct I4 leading from a feedchamber I5 to the pen I6.

The feed-plug is provided with a central bore 50 I'I of small diameter, which extends from its inner end to a point near its outer end i8.

A passage -I9 located near the end of the bore I'I leads from the bore to the atmosphere.

A small tube 2U, preferably made of hard rub- 55 ber, is tted to slide in close engagement with the ci33iindicates@ithepacking V material and 134 the f" position.

wall of the bore and normally restv with its end 2l extended beyond the passage I 9 to close it. Q

4`A piston 22` is fitted to slide" easily irl-contact with. the inner wall 23"of the barrel, and "isf provided withA one or more ports 241-5-24 etc. and is 5 alsoprovided with la central bore 25f`thru1which the tube 2U" extends and is freely movable therein.

An abutment ring 216- is fixed` on the tube 2-0 on one side of the piston,` and a valve 28 formed in the shapefof a ring, isxed on the tubeon the opposite side thereof, the` distance between thefa'fbutment ring and* valve being greater than thel width of the piston,` asY illustrated. 4

The valve" is preferably made of hard rubber; and is provided` with one orl morepassages y yZBMZB etc. which extend from its outer periphery to the bore' "or` passage in the tube, as illustrated.

A piston-rod 29 may be provided byextending Ithe tube Zllor it maybe a separate rod fastened tothe valve at one end` `and extending; thrugthe "'o 'stuflirgubox 30as shown. l

"I'henstufrng-box comprises a casing 30 having a lthread 3l" which engages a thread32 formed" in the barrel.

packing1 ringg p "indicatesr athread for engagement with a Lthread 4Slifbririedcin'the inner endof the handle 31, as illustrated in Fig-ure 1,l which is its normal The locati'ontofthe piston inthe barrel, to- 30 getherwith the val'veand abutment ring, deter*- ins the relative size off the chambers I5 and 3:9 nd alsorthe length of` thefstroke f the pis? 'ton-rodiriithe act oflling thepen'with It is well known that the feed-plug can control but a limited amount of ink, and that when a reservoir is too large for the proper control, ink will flow from the pen point when the reservoir is partly empty. 40

In the present construction, the chamber 38 may be of large ink capacity, normally closed from communication with the feed-chamber I5, and the feed-chamber made relatively small, so that the feed-plug can control the ink at all times and prevent leakage.

The tube 20 and piston-rod, is made small in diameter, not much over one-sixteenth of an inch outside, and it may therefore be moved thru the stumng box with very little friction, and the packing is able to maintain an ink-tight t with the rod.

'Ihe pen is lled by inserting the end of the `feed-plug in a bottle of ink, below the passage I9, then unscrewing the handle from the barrel and reciprocating the piston-rod.

On the outward stroke of the piston-rod, the tube 20 slides thru the piston 22 until the abutment-ring contacts and moves it to the upper end of the chamber 38.

This movementl causes all of the air or liquid n in chamber 38 to ow either thru the ports 24 of the piston into the feed-chamber I5, or a part thereof thru the passages 28 and tube 20 to the atmosphere.

On the inward stroke, the valve 28 closes 'the ports 24 in the piston, and ink flows thru the passage I 9, tube 20 and passages 28 into the chamber 38 and fills the same.

On the next outward stroke of the pistonrod, ink passes from the chamber 38 thru the piston into chamber I5 and completely lls it, and the next inward stroke again draws ink thru the tube into chamber 38 while the surplus ink in the feedchamber I 5 is discharged therefrom thru the inkduct in the feed-plug back into the bottle containing the ink supply, leaving both chambers of the pen full of ink, and the valve in its closed position, after which the handle is rotated to cause the threads 35 and 36 to engage and rest the coacting parts of the pen in normal positions, as illustrated in Figure 1, and causing the tube to overlap and close the passage I9 to prevent ingress of air to the chamber 38 or leakage therefrom thru said tube.

When the feed-chamber is empty or partly empty, it may be lled by unsorewing the handle a turn or two, thus opening the valve to permit ink to ilow from the chamber 38 to` the feed cham- .ber I5 thru the ports 24, and thereafter closing said ports by screwing the handle to its normal position of rest.

The pen may be cleaned thoroughly by pum ing clean water thru the chambers, as in the act of filling the pen with ink, as will be readily understood.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new: Y i

jl. A fountain pen comprising a barrel having a reservoir for ink therein, a feed-plug having a feed duct in open communication with said reservoir and having a central bore leading from the reservoirto the atmosphere, a piston in said reservoir having a central opening and an opening at one side thereof, a closure for the rear end of said reservoir, a piston-rod extending therethru, a valve carried by said piston-rod to control the ow of ink thru said piston, a tube connected to said piston-rod and extending thru said central opening in the piston and into said central bore in the feed-plug, said tube being in open communication with the reservoir between the piston and said closure for the rear end of the reservoir; the construction being such that the movement of the piston-rod in one direction will open the valve and move the piston toward the rear end of the reservoir, and the movement thereof in the opposite direction will close said valve and move the piston in the opposite direction in the act of lling the reservoir with ink.

2. The construction dened in claim l, together with; and means for closing the said tube when in its normal position of rest.

3. A fountain pen comprising a barrel having a reservoir for ink therein, a feed-plug having a feed-duct in open communication with said reservoir and having a central bore leading from the reservoir to the atmosphere, a piston in said reservoir located between its ends to provide two chambers, a closure for the rear end of said reservoir, a piston-rod extending therethru, a tube connected to said piston-rod and extending thru said piston and into said central bore in the feed-plug; said piston having a passage leading therethru, a valve carried by the piston-rod for controlling said passage whereby the chambers may be in open or closed relation to each other; said construction being suchl that the movement of the piston-rod in alternate directions will act to draw ink into said reservoir thru said tube to ll one of said chambers and permit ink to flow therefrom to the other chamber thru the valve controlled passage.

4. A fountain pen comprising a barrel having a reservoir for ink therein, a feed-plug having a feed-duct in open communication with said reserl Voir and having a bore leading from the reservoir to the atmosphere, a piston in said reservoir located between its ends to provide two chambers, a closure for the rear end of said reservoir, a piston-rod comprising a tube which extends into said bore in the feed-plug; said piston having a central aperture thru which the piston-rod extends, a valve carried by the piston-rod for closing said aperture when the piston-rod is moved in one direction and for opening the aperture when moved in the opposite direction, said valve serving to divide the reservoir into two closed chambers; said construction being such that the movement of the piston-rod in alternate directions will act to draw ink into said reservoir thru said tubular portion of the piston-rod to fill said chambers.

' FRANK M. ASHLEY. 

